List of town tramway systems in Japan
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This is a list of town tramway systems in Japan, past and present, by region. Regions and towns are arranged in geographic order, northeast to southwest.
Contents |
[edit] Criteria for inclusion
A "town tramway service" is defined as:
- a passenger transport service,
- provided to the general public,
- operated within or close to towns, cities or villages,
- operated with railbound vehicles,
- operated on tracks built entirely or largely within public streets and roads.
Determining which towns "had trams" (or "streetcars") requires subjective judgment to some degree.
No "universal" distinctions can be made between "town tramways" and other light railways because "tramway" and "railway" practices (and laws) varied considerably between countries. For example, the prevailing European standard to distinguish between "steam tramways" and "light railways, worked by steam traction" is based on rolling stock type. Lines worked by enclosed "tramway type" locomotives are classified as "steam tramways," and those worked by unenclosed locomotives are classified as "light railways." By this standard, virtually all Japanese examples of "steam tramways" would be classified as "light railways," because none (based on the photographic record) used European-type enclosed locomotives. Also in Japan, many of today's suburban electric railways were built under "tramway" concessions ("licenses") and were eventually changed to "railway" concessions. These lines had many "tramway" characteristics as built but few today.
[edit] Opening and closing dates
"Opening date" is that upon which public passenger service was first offered. Test runs and inaugural ceremonies often occurred before this "opening date."
"Closing date" is the last "full" day on which passenger service was offered to the public. Service often extended into the small hours (i.e. past midnight) of the next day. Closure ceremonies and farewell excursions were sometimes held following the end of public service. It is common for Japanese references to list closure dates as the date from which services no longer run, which explains why there is often a discrepancy of one day between English and Japanese references.
[edit] Hokkaidō
| Name of system | Location | Traction type |
Gauge | Date (from) | Date (to) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asahikawa Shigai Kidō (旭川市街軌道) |
Asahikawa | Electric (600 V DC) | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 3 November 1929 | 8 June 1956 | [1] |
| Asahikawa Denki Kidō (旭川電気軌道) |
Asahikawa - Higashikawa (東川) and Asahiyama (旭山) | Electric (600 V DC) | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 8 January 1927 | 31 December 1972 | [1] |
| Hakodate City Transportation Bureau | Hakodate | Horse | 1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in) | 13 December 1897[citation needed] | 1913[citation needed] | |
| Electric (600 V DC) |
31 October 1913[citation needed] | |||||
| Sapporo Street Car | Sapporo | Horse | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 1 May 1910[citation needed] | 1918[citation needed] | |
| Electric (600 V DC) |
4 August 1918[citation needed] |
[edit] Tōhoku region
| Name of system | Location | Traction type |
Gauge | Date (from) | Date (to) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akayu | Human | 3 May 1919[citation needed] | 30 June 1924[citation needed] | Connected hot-spring resorts in Akayu village with Akayu railway station. Operation suspended because of depot (carbarn) fire. Restoration of service planned, not carried out. Electrification planned ca. 1926, not carried out[citation needed]. | ||
| Akita Basha Tetsudō (秋田馬車鉄道) |
Akita to Tsuchizaki (土崎) | Horse | 1,391 mm (4 ft 6.8 in) | 14 July 1899 | 1922 | [1] |
| Akita Denki Kidō (秋田電気軌道) |
Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 21 January 1922 | 30 March 1966 | ||
| Hanamaki Denki (花巻電気) |
Hanamaki - Nishi-Namari-onsen (西鉛温泉) | Electric (600 V DC) |
762 mm (2 ft 6 in) | 16 September 1915 | 31 August 1969 | Horse traction used on some segments on temporary basis, 1920 - 1926. Connected Hanamaki town with Shidohira (志戸平), Ōzawa (大沢), and Namari (鉛) hot-spring resorts.[1] |
| Matsuyama | Human | 22 November 1922[citation needed] | 1 January 1930[citation needed] | Connected Matsuyama railway station with Chiishi (千石). Last jinsha (human-powered tramway) in Japan to carry passengers. Heritage jinsha tramway operates at Cosmos Garden, within Gohommaru Park, Matsuyama, with replica vehicle (built 1992)[citation needed]. | ||
| Sendai-shi Kōtsūkyoku (仙台市交通局) |
Sendai | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 25 November 1926 | 31 March 1976 | [2] |
| Akiu Denki Kidō (秋保電気軌道) |
Nagamachi (長町), Sendai - Akiu-onsen (秋保温泉) | Horse | 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) | 23 December 1914 | 1925 | [1] |
| Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 14 June 1925 | 8 May 1961 | |||
| Ōsaki Suiden (大崎水田) |
Matsushima | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 4 February 1922 | by 1938 (or 22 January 1938) | Closed because construction of Sendai - Matsushima - Ishinomaki electric railway (opened in stages 1925 - 1928) ended the need for the tramway. [1] |
[edit] Kantō region
| Name of system | Location | Traction type |
Gauge | Date (from) | Date (to) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Musashi Chūō Denki Tetsudō (武蔵中央電気鉄道) |
Hachiōji | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 23 November 1929 | 30 June 1939 | [1] |
| Kawasaki Shiden (川崎市電) |
Kawasaki Station - Shiohama (塩浜) | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) | 13 October 1944 | 1969 | Municipal town tramway. [2] |
| Suihin Densha (水浜電車), later Ibaraki Kōtsū (茨城交通) |
Mito | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 28 December 1922 | 1 June 1966 | Connected Mito, Ōarai and Minato. [1] |
| Seisō Denki Kidō (成宗電気軌道) |
Narita | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in) | 11 December 1910 | 10 December 1944 | [1] |
| Nikkō Denki Kidō (日光電気軌道) |
Nikkō | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 10 August 1910 | 24 February 1968 | Connected Nikkō Station and Umagaeshi (馬返). [1] |
| Noda | Human | 18 December 1900[citation needed] | 13 October 1926[citation needed] | |||
| Odawara Denki Tetsudō (小田原電気鉄道) |
Odawara | 1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in) | 1 October 1888 | 1900 | Operation suspended 21 December 1944 - 12 September 1946. Tramway extended between Kōzu Station, Odawara and Hakone-Yumoto (箱根湯本) as built. Odawara - Kōzu segment closed 6 December 1920. Replaced by railway line. Odawara - Hakone-Yumoto segment closed 31 May 1935. Replaced by railway line. [1] |
|
| Electric (600 V DC) |
1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) | 21 March 1900 | 31 May 1956 | |||
| Kawagoe Denki Tetsudō (川越電気鉄道) |
Ōmiya - Kawagoe | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in) | 16 April 1906 | ? | Formally closed from 25 February 1941. [1] |
[edit] Tokyo
| Name of system | Location | Traction type |
Gauge | Date (from) | Date (to) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo Toden | Tokyo | Horse | 25 June 1882 | 1904[citation needed] | Electric traction demonstrated at exhibition in Ueno Park, 3 May - 1 July 1890; introduction of electric traction to Japan. First electric tramway within Tokyo opened 22 August 1903. Last lines of historic “municipal” system closed 11 November 1972. Current line is one of the company systems taken into municipal ownership from 1 February 1942. These served areas that were outside of the Tokyo municipal boundary until annexations in 1932. [3] |
|
| Electric | 22 August 1903[citation needed] | 11 November 1972[citation needed] | ||||
| Arakawa lines (荒川線) |
Electric | 1 April 1913[citation needed] | The surviving portion of this system is today’s Toden Arakawa Line. | |||
| Jōtō Denki Kidō (城東電気軌道) |
Electric (600 V DC) |
1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in) | 30 December 1917 | ? | Connected with municipal network from 7 May 1929. [1] | |
| Higashi-Arakawa (東荒川) - Imaibashi (今井橋) | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in) | 31 December 1925 | 19 May 1952 | Unconnected line of the Jōtō system, located east of the Arakawa drainage canal. Replaced by trolleybus. [1] | |
| Suginami Line (杉並線) |
Electric | 26 August 1921[citation needed] | 10 December 1963[citation needed] | |||
| Tamagawa Denki Tetsudō (玉川電気鉄道) |
Tamagawa Line (玉川線) | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in) | 6 March 1907 | 11 May 1969 | Built by predecessor of today’s Tokyu Corporation. Not taken into municipal ownership (excepting short segments lying northeast of Shibuya. [1] |
| Tōkyū Setagaya Line | Electric | 18 January 1925 [2] | Surviving portion of Tōkyū Tamagawa Line. | |||
| Kanamachi (金町) | Human | 7 December 1899[citation needed] | 1912[citation needed] | Replaced by electric railway line. |
| Name of system | Location | Traction type |
Gauge | Date (from) | Date (to) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yokohama Denki Tetsudō (横浜電気鉄道) |
Yokohama | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in) | 15 July 1904 | 31 March 1972 | [1] |
[edit] Chūbu region
| Name of system | Location | Traction type |
Gauge | Date (from) | Date (to) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meitetsu Gifu Lines | Gifu | Electric | 11 February 1911 [2] | 31 March 2005 [2] | ||
| Okoshi-sen (起線) |
Ichinomiya | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 1 February 1924 | 31 May 1954 | Service suspended from 1 June 1953, and formally closed from 1 June 1954. [4] |
| Kanazawa Denki Kidō (金沢電気軌道) |
Kanazawa | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 2 February 1919 | 10 February 1967 | [3] |
| Matsumoto Electric Railway (松本電気鉄道) |
Matsumoto | Electric | 19 April 1924 [2] | 31 March 1964 [2] | [5] | |
| Nagoya | Electric | 6 May 1898[citation needed] | 31 March 1974[citation needed] | |||
| Okazaki Shinai-sen (岡崎市内線) |
Okazaki | Horse | 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) | 1 January 1899 | 1912[citation needed] | Service suspended 19 June 1945 because of firebomb attack, restored 1946[citation needed]. [6] |
| Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 1 September 1912 | 17 June 1962 | |||
| Shimizu Shinai-sen (清水市内線) |
Shimizu | Steam | 6 December 1913[citation needed] | 17 July 1917[citation needed] | Services suspended from 7 July 1974. [7] |
|
| Electric | 24 December 1928 [2] | 20 March 1975 [2] | ||||
| Shizuoka Shinai-sen (静岡市内線) |
Shizuoka | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 2 August 1920 [2] | 14 September 1962 [2] | [8] |
| Manyō Line | Takaoka [9] | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 10 April 1948 | The current line incorporates segments opened from 12 October 1930 as part of Toyama - Shimminato (新湊) railway.[citation needed] [10] |
|
| Toyama Chiho Railway | Toyama | Electric | 1 September 1913 [2] | Operation suspended 1 August 1945 because of firebomb attack. Service restored in stages from 14 January 1946[citation needed]. | ||
| Toyohashi Railroad City Line | Toyohashi | Electric | 14 July 1925 [2] |
[edit] Kinki region
| Name of system | Location | Traction type |
Gauge | Date (from) | Date (to) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ise | Electric | 5 August 1903[citation needed] | 19 January 1961[citation needed] | |||
| Kōbe Denki Tetsudō (神戸電気鉄道) |
Kobe | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) | 5 April 1910 | 13 March 1971 | [3] |
| Kuwana Denki (桑名電軌) |
Kuwana | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 17 September 1927 | 9 January 1944 | [3] |
| Kyōto Denki Tetsudō (京都電気鉄道) |
Kyoto | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)/1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) | 1 February 1895 | 30 September 1978 | [3] |
| Keifuku Electric Railroad | Kyoto - Arashiyama | Electric | 25 March 1910[citation needed] | |||
| Keihan Keishin Line | Misasagi Station (Kyoto) - Hamaōtsu Station [11] | Electric 1,500 V DC (600 V DC until 1996) |
1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) | 15 August 1912 | Street track segment in Kyoto replaced by new underground alignment built as part of a metro project and opened 12 October 1997. Four-car metro trains operate on a short segment of street track in Ōtsu. [12] | |
| Osaka | Electric | 12 September 1903[citation needed] | 31 March 1969[citation needed] | |||
| Osaka - Kobe[citation needed] | Electric | 1 July 1927[citation needed] | 6 May 1975[citation needed] | |||
| Hankai Tramway | Osaka - Sakai | Horse | 20 September 1900[citation needed] | 31 January 1908[citation needed] | [13] [14] | |
| Electric (600 V DC) |
1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) | 1 October 1910[citation needed] | ||||
| Wakayama Suiryoku Denki (和歌山水力電気) |
Wakayama | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 23 January 1909 | 31 March 1971 | [3] |
[edit] Chūgoku region
| Name of system | Location | Traction type |
Gauge | Date (from) | Date (to) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hiroshima Electric Railway | Hiroshima | Electric | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) | 23 November 1912 [2] | [15] | |
| Hiroshima Electric Railway Miyajima Line | Hiroshima - Miyajima (宮島) | Electric | 22 August 1922 | Opened in stages, completed 1 February 1931. Built as a railway, through workings over town tramway system started 1 April 1958. Railway stock gradually replaced by tramway stock; last railway stock withdrawn 20 August 1994[citation needed]. [16] |
||
| Iwakuni Denki Kidō (岩国電気軌道) |
Iwakuni | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 2 February 1909 | 5 April 1929 | [4] |
| Kure Denki Tetsudō (呉電気鉄道) |
Kure | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 31 October 1909 | 17 December 1967 | [5] |
| Okayama Electric Tramway | Okayama | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 5 May 1912 [2] | ||
| Sanyō Denki Kidō (山陽電気軌道) |
Shimonoseki | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 25 December 1926 | 6 February 1971 | Town tramway system incorporated a short length of railway line opened 22 April 1914, electrified 9 April 1926. [2]] |
| Yonago Densha Kidō (米子電車軌道) |
Yonago | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 1 April 1925 | 27 November 1938 | [3] |
[edit] Shikoku
| Name of system | Location | Traction type |
Gauge | Date (from) | Date (to) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tosa Electric Railway | Kōchi | Electric | 2 May 1904 [2] | East-west tramway line extends between Ino, Kōchi and Gomen (後免). | ||
| Matsuyama City Line | Matsuyama | Steam | 22 August 1895[citation needed] | 15 April 1927[citation needed] | ||
| Electric | 8 August 1911 [2] | |||||
| Shikoku Suiryoku Denki Shinaisen (四国水力電気市内線) |
Takamatsu | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) | 20 May 1917 | 3 July 1945 | Closed because of firebomb attack which destroyed most of the town. Town tramway not rebuilt because extension of local electric railway lines to town center and railway station eliminated the need for the tramway. Officially closed from 8 January 1957. [3] |
[edit] Kyūshū
| Name of system | Location | Traction type |
Gauge | Date (from) | Date (to) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fukuoka Shinai-sen (福岡市内線) |
Fukuoka | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) & 1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) | 9 March 1910 [2] | 10 February 1979 [2] | 1,067 mm and 1,435 mm gauge lines (included dual-gauge sections). [17] |
| Kagoshima City Transportation Bureau | Kagoshima | Electric | 1 December 1912 [2] | |||
| Karatsu[citation needed] | Horse | 11 June 1900[citation needed] | 1930[citation needed] | |||
| Petrol (gasoline) | 1913[citation needed] | 28 November 1930[citation needed] | ||||
| Kitakyūshū | Horse | 11 June 1906[citation needed] | 1920[citation needed] | |||
| Electric | 5 June 1911[citation needed] | 25 November 2000[citation needed] | ||||
| Chikuho Electric Railroad Line | Kitakyūshū - Nōgata | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) | 21 March 1956 | Express tramway line.[18] [19] | |
| Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau | Kumamoto | Steam | 24 July 1908[citation needed] | July 1920[citation needed] | ||
| Electric | 1 August 1924 [2] | |||||
| Kurume - Mameda (豆田) [20] | Horse | 25 October 1903[citation needed] | 1905[citation needed] | |||
| Petrol (gasoline) | 1905[citation needed] | 1929[citation needed] | ||||
| Steam | 1918[citation needed] | 1929[citation needed] | ||||
| Electric | 1918[citation needed] | 1929[citation needed] | On segments of line within Kurume. Final operating segments closed 25 March 1929[citation needed]. | |||
| Nagasaki Electric Tramway | Nagasaki | Electric | 16 November 1915 [2] | Operation suspended from 9 August 1945 because of damage caused by atomic bomb attack. Service restored in stages from 25 November 1945[citation needed]. | ||
| Betsudai Line (別大線) |
Ōita - Beppu | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 10 May 1900 [2] | ? | [21] |
| Ōmuta Shinai-sen (大牟田市内線) |
Ōmuta | Electric (600 V DC) |
1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) | 1 December 1927 | 5 January 1952 | Service suspended from 6 January 1952, and formally closed from 15 March 1954. [22] |
| Saga Denki Kidō (佐賀電気軌道) |
Saga[citation needed] | Electric (600 V DC) |
914 mm (3 ft) | 10 April 1930 | 20 August 1937 | [23] |
| Tsuyazaki | Horse | 28 April 1908[citation needed] | 13 April 1939[citation needed] |
[edit] Okinawa Prefecture
| Name of system | Location | Traction type |
Gauge | Date (from) | Date (to) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Okinawa Denki Kidō (沖縄電気軌道) |
Naha | Electric (500 V DC) |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | 3 May 1914 | 19 March 1933 | Line officially closed from 12 August 1933. [3] |
[edit] See also
- List of town tramway systems
- List of light-rail transit systems
- List of rapid transit systems
- List of trolleybus systems
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 原口隆行 Haraguchi, Takayuki. 2000. 日本の路面電車 II (廃止路線東日本編) Nippon no romendensha II (Haishi Rosen Higashi-Nippon-hen) (JTB Can Books series). Tokyo: Japan Travel Bureau.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Brown, Colin (2007). "Tramway Opening and Closure Dates". Bullet-In Issue 61, p25
- ^ a b c d e f g h 原口隆行 Haraguchi, Takayuki. 2000. 日本の路面電車 III (廃止路線西日本編) Nippon no romendensha III (Haishi Rosen Nishi-Nippon-hen) (JTB Can Books series). Tokyo: Japan Travel Bureau.
- ^ Brown, Colin (2004). "Rural Private Railways (Part 2): The Iwakuni Denki Kidō". Bullet-In Issue 52, 28-29
- ^ Brown, Colin (2006). "Rural Private Railways (Part 4): Kure Denki Tetsudō". Bullet-In Issue 57, 16-19
[edit] Other reference sources
- 和久田康雄 Wakuda, Yasuo. 1993. 私鉄史ハンドブック Shitetsu shi handbook (Private Railways of Japan, Their Networks and Fleets, 1882 to 1991). Tokyo: Denkisha-kenkyūkai.
